In Week 3 lecture, we are introduced to the theory of Semiotics. We learned the meaning of connotation, denotation, signifiers , signified and all that are inter-related to the study of Semiology. We were further taught how to analyse advertisements by using semiotics .
For Week 3, I will be analysing a fashion advertisement using Semiotics. My hypothesis for this week’s journal is that majority of the Fashion advertisement in the West uses the sex appeal to attract consumers. The reason why I want to analyse fashion advertisement which uses sex to promote their product is because I have always wondered what is the significance of sexual appeal in relation to fashion today. In order to test my hypothesis, I am going to examine a popular advertisement that portrays fashion today. I am going to start by analysing the politics of fashion, ideologies, denotation and connotation. Then I will sum up my conclusions to my analysis by stating out the outcome of my analysis and why fashion advertisers use sex appeal as their main attraction to customers.
Before I start my analysis, I would like to give a little bit of introduction to semiotics. The study of Semiotics was founded by a Swiss Linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) and Pierce (1839-1914) . However, in the late 1960’s this idea was further developed by Roland Barthes as he used Semiotics as a major approach to his cultural studies. Ever since then, many scholars came up with various definitions of Semiotics but according to Pierce, he defined Semiotic as ‘the formal doctrine of signs’. ( Pierce 1931-58,2.227).
In semiotics, the concept of ‘code’ is fundamental, as Roman Jakobson emphasized, “The production and interpretation of texts depends upon the existence of codes or conventions for communication”.(Jakobson, 1971,pg.147) .Everyday, we see signs all around us and we communicate using signs. However, we never question why do these signs represent what it means and who are the people that has assigned the meaning to the sign. We live in this ‘take for granted world’ and use signs as our means of communication the way we are taught to understand it.
According to Pierce, (1931) there are three types of signs used in semiotics which are the Indexical, Iconic and Symbolic. Indexical is a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in some way to the signified whereas iconic is a mode of signifier which resembles the signified. Symbolic, however is a signifier which does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally conventional. (image,power and politics, pg.31)
Now linking back to my initial hypothesis of fashion, we can see that the image below is an advertisement for D & G. I will analyse this fashion advertisement using Semiotic analysis and I will further analyse the connotative and denotative meaning of the advert as well as identify the signified and the signifier for the image.
 |
| Fig. 1 Dolce & Gabbana Fashion Advertisement |
The politics of this advertisement can be interpreted as the politics of sexuality, the politics of fashion, politics of masculinity, politics of femininity, politics of heterosexuality, politics of lust etc.
IDEOLOGIES OF FASHION
To explore the meanings of any images , we have to understand the ideologies first and relate the image to the ideologies in order to understand the meaning. Ideologies are systems of beliefs that exist within all cultures. ( Image, Power and Politics, pg.22).
Firstly , I will explore the ideologies of the image in Fig. 1. The ideologies that can be derived from the advert is that it is fashion for the mature people as it symbolizes sexuality, fashion is unisex, women being submissive at the same time seductive, young adults involve in drugs, the discourse of masculinity and femininity etc.
DENOTATION
Next, I will start by analysing the denotative aspects of the advertisement. “Denotation” in semiotics is described as the literal meaning of an image (Chandler, 2002, pg.140).According to Wilden, 1987, the term ‘’denotation’ is sometimes regarded as a digital code (pg. 224). The setting of this particular advertisement takes place in a communal shower which signifies that these models are very daring and bold. Next, we will look at the signifiers. The signifiers here is that there is a man who is half naked and bending towards a women. The women is lying down and gazing somewhere. Her eyes looks dark and puffy as if they had been taking drugs. When we analyse the posture of the models, we can see that each of the models are posing in a very seductive posture . All the women are posing in a sexual position. The body of the girls are the stereotype sexy girls while the men are all hunks with muscular bodies. However, the women bending behind the man looks like she is on the lookout for her friends who are about to do some daring action in the communal showers. The women sitting on the far left looks like she enjoys to be touched by the man behind her.
CONNOTATION
On the other hand, the term “Connotation” refers to the the socio-cultural and personal associations of the sign. (Chandler, 2002,pg. 140). These are typically related to the interpreter’s class, age, etc. The signifier of the models in the communal shower connotes that they are very daring and bold. We can say that Dolce & Gabanna’s clothes are for the daring people and anybody who uses Dolce & Gabanna clothings will be daring and willing to try out anything new. The signifier of the white colour clothes they wear connotes purity, cleanliness and innocence which can also be interpreted as the people who wear D&G are clean . If we look at the far right of the image there is an D & G label and it connotes the image of the clothes .
ANCHORAGE
Anchorage is a text which links the image to the text and strengthens the meaning of the text in regards to the image. The term anchorage is introduced by Barthes (1977). According to Barthes, anchorage can ‘fix the floating chain of signifieds” and limit an individual’s interpretation of the image.(Barthes, 1977, pg. 201) When we look at the image without the “Dolce and Gabanna” logo, we have the impression that it is a group of young people who is being bold to do sexual actions which many may consider as immoral . However, when we see the logo on the image, it immediately changes the meaning attached to the image. That is the importance of pragmatics in visual images. After looking at the image with the logo, we can see that this image reflects fashion of today. The action of the young people in the image reflects the act of being daring and bold. Without the logo, this image gives a vague statement to the consumers about fashion and people might misinterpret this image by thinking that it is an act of immorality . This also shows the importance of the “anchor” as it anchors the meaning to the image which shapes an individuals interpretation of the image.
CONCLUSION
Here, we can see that the image draw a cultural knowledge that sex is appealing to almost every mankind on earth. By using sexual appeal it can easily attract the consumers to purchase their product. Many fashion designers have noticed the success of using sexuality as a way to visually attract consumers. The mass media is certainly an important socializing agency thus much of its content will obviously reflect the patriarchal ideology which is portraying women as appendages to men’s arms or sexual playthings.
Thus my conclusion after analysing this image using semiotic analysis is that many fashion advertisers do actually use sex appeal for their advertisement in the Western society. The reason why discourse of sexuality is used is because of the culture. Patriarchy ideology takes a dominant stand in the society where women seems to become appendages to men. This statement is also supported by Marjorie Ferguson (Forever Feminine) , a sociologists who found a ‘cult of feminity’ being promoted in women’s magazine. In the West, using sex appeal in these advertisement actually works as it simulates excitement through the eyes of the consumer and directly attracts the consumers to the products.
REFERENCES
Chandler, D. (2002), The basics Semotics, London : Routledge
Stokes, J. (2003). Semiotics. How to do media and cultural studies (pp.70-75). London : Sage Publications.
No comments:
Post a Comment